PLAN  OF  ORGANIZATION. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Board: 

It  accords  with  custom  that,  previous  to  the  opening  of  a new 
institution,  the  president  elect  should  present  to  the  trustees  his 
views  on  all  matters  essential  to  its  future  success.  I shall  there- 
fore propose  to  you,  gentlemen,  such  plans  for  the  organization 
and  management  of  the  Iowa  State  Agricultural  College  as  seem 
to  me  adapted  to  secure  the  benign  objects  for  which  it  was 
> founded.  These  plans  may  either  be  accepted  in  their  entirety  or 
serve  simply  as  outlines  to  be  filled  up  hereafter  as  occasion  may 
require. 

OBJECTS  OF  THE  IOWA  STATE  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  Iowa  Agri- 
cultural College.  The  wording  of  the  congressional  grant  from 
which  our  endowment  arises,  is  pointed  and  explicit.  It  declares 
“ That  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other  sci- 
entific and  classical  studies  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts , in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  educa- 
tion of  the  industrial  classes,  in  the  several  pursuits  and  pro-; 
fessions  of  life.” 

No  doubtful  construction  of  such  language  is  possible. 
The  principal  clause  announces  in  precise  English  that  “the  leadr 
ing  object  shall  be,  to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are 
related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,”  and  the  gist  of  the 
adjuncts  which  set  forth  the  final  purpose  is  11  To  educate  the  indus- 
trial classes  for  their  pursuits  in  life.” 

In  accepting  this  munificent  grant,  which,  under  skillful  man- 
agement, already  yields  an  income  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  a 
year,  the  State  of  Iowa  accepted  alio  the  conditions  it  imposes, 


[2] 


and  the  trustees  have  no  alternative  but  to  fulfill  these  conditions 
in  an  honest  and  liberal  spirit.  If  the  objects  of  the  institution  are 
to  teach  the  branches  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts, 
then  the  leading  courses  of  study  should  be  largely  composed  of 
these  branches,  the  leading  professors  should  have  these  branches 
in  charge,  and  the  whole  equipment  of  the  institution  should  help 
to  illustrate  and  give  them  prominence.  But  if  the  public  faith, 
jil edged  in  receiving  the  congressional  grant,  requires  that  this 
institution  be,  in  spirit  and  scope,  a college  of  agriculture  and  me- 
chanic arts,  it  also  requires  that  these  departments  of  study  should 
be  co-ordinates — in  other  words,  that  each  should  be  provided 
with  all  the  facilities  which  are  needful  for  its  complete  develop- 
ment. 

The  spirit  of  the  law  forbids  that,  in  the  organization,  one 
should  be  subordinate  to  the  other,  and  if  there  should  be  found 
any  difference  in  the  state  of  these  departments  in  actual  opera- 
tion, let  it  arise  from  the  nature  and  number  of  the  sciences  rela- 
ted to  each  and  from  the  educational  necessities  of  the  state  as 
revealed  hereafter.  The  grant  contemplates  simply  that  full 
opportunity  should  be  given  to  both,  and  not  that  both  should  be 
taught  by  an  equal  number  of  professors  or  attended  by  an  equal 
number  of  students. 

The  enactment  of  Congress  provides  further,  that  military  tac- 
tics shall  be  included  among  the  branches  to  be  taught,  but  does 
not  make  instruction  in  it  a leading  object.  I regard  the  lan- 
guage employed  as  clearly  implying  that  it  was  not  the  intention 
of  Congress  to  require  that  military  science  should  be  made  a 
separate  department  of  instruction,  but  that  it  should  hold  a rank 
subordinate  to  the  main  design.  The  purpose  of  the  congression- 
al enactment  will  in  this  particular  be  fully  gained  if  military 
tactics  and  engineering  be  thoroughly  taught  to  advanced  stu- 
dents in  all  the  departments.  I need  hardly  add  that  the  language 
of  the  grant,  in  not  excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies, 
implies  simply  that  their  instruction  to  an  extent  compatible  with 
the  leading  object,  is  not  forbidden.  Instruction  in  scientific  and 
classical  studies  not  connected  with  agriculture  or  the  mechanic 
arts,  is  permitted  if  such  studies  are  deemed  necessary  to  give 
range  and  completeness  to  the  college  courses,  but  the  creation  of 
a department  of  general  science  and  literature  which  should  ov6r- 
shadow  the  departments  essential  to  the  enterprise,  would  be  a 
manifest  violation  of  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  national  law. 


[3] 


Briefly  then,  in  strict  conformity  to  the  conditions  of  the 
congressional  grant,  the  trustees  must  organize  two  co-ordinate 
departments,  namely,  that  of  agriculture  and  that  of  the  mechanic 
arts— must  make  them  the  principal  departments  of  the  college, 
and  give  them  all  proper  facilities  and  means  of  illustration. 

The  trustees  must  further  provide  for  instruction  in  military 
tactics  but  may  make  it  an  adjunct  of  the  principal  departments. 

The  trustees  may  include  other  scientific  and  classical  studies 
but  must  make  instruction  in  these  subordinate  to  the  main 
design  of  the  institution. 

Before  proceeding  to  determine  specifically  what  kind,  number, 
and  succession  of  studies  will,  when  arranged  into  the  two  princi- 
pal courses,  answer  this  plain  interpretation  of  the  law,  permit 
me  to  notice  briefly  the  causes  which  are  producing  the  new 
order  of  institutions  to  which  this  agricultural  college  belongs. 

For  some  years  past  there  has  been  among  men  of  thought  and 
culture,  a growing  conviction  that  the  old  college  course  does  not 
answer  the  wants  of  modern  life.  It  is  indeed  justly  believed 
that  a course  of  study  borrowed  largely  from  antiquity  and  hav- 
ing little  connection  with  the  immense  activities  around  us,  is  out 
of  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  times.  The  ordinary  college 
is  seemingly  indifferent  to  the  achievements  of  modern  science 
and  the  useful  arts,  and  admits  these  but  sparingly  into  its  cur- 
riculum while  it  holds  tenaciously  to  its  favorite  humanities,  an 
inheritance  from  the  dead  past.  While  many  from  the  lack  of 
better  means  resort  to  it  for  higher  education,  it  is,  in  fact,  suita- 
ble to  the  comparatively  few  only  who  are  preparing  for  the 
professions  of  theology,  literature,  or  law.  Since  progress  in 
literary  studies  is  its  measure  of  scholarship  the  advantages  it 
offers  to  such  students,  though  not  without  drawbacks,  are  many 
and  great.  But  as  a mental  gymnasium  for  the  industrial  classes 
its  faults  are  legion.  It  withdraws  the  student  largely  from  the 
great  industries,  isolates  him  from  the  world,  withholds  all  incite- 
ments to  regular  physical  effort,  gives  him  an  aversion  to  manual 
labor,  a distaste  for  the  habits  and  forms  of  business,  and  compels 
him,  without  regard  to  individual  adaptation,  to  study  that 
which  he  will  never  use.  in  any  of  the  great  industrial  enterprises 
of  the  day.  His  six  years  of  mental  toil,  if  successful,  give  him 
a knowledge  of  heathen  mythology,  a familiarity  with  the  liter- 
ary wonders  of  the  ancient  world,  an  insight  into  the  felicities 


and  philosophy  of  the  most  perfect  of  languages,  and  a habit  of 
mind  that  fits  him  for  the  editorial  chair  or  the  studies  of  the 
pulpit  and . the  bar,  but  certainly  unfits  him  for  success  in  any  of 
the  great  branches  of  industry  and  art  which  employ  the  most 
intelligent  and  energetic  minds  of  the  country.  What  farmer’s 
son  returns  from  the  college  to  the  farm  unless  he  has  failed  to 
win  the  college  diploma  or  to  imbibe  the  college  spirit  ? What 
valedictorian  ever  became  the  leader  in  any  great  industrial 
enterprise  by  virtue  of  the  peculiar  attainments  that  made  him 
the  leader  of  his  class  ? 

Let  us  be  just,  however,  to  our  American  colleges.  They  have 
been  almost  our  only  institutions  of  higher  learning.  Their  fac- 
ulties comprise  scholars  of  the  finest  culture,  earnest  and  faithful 
workers,  loving  their  noble  work.  They  have  produced  many 
distinguished  men  who  are  eminent  in  divinity  or  law,  but  the 
simple  truth  is,  that  the  single  line  of  studies  they  insist  upon, 
unvarying,  inflexible,  and  remote  in  its  bearings  on  many  of  the 
prominent  pursuits,  does  not  suit  the  variety  of  minds  nor  meet 
the  multiplied  wants  which  modern  progress  has  developed. 

Of  late  years,  the  colleges  themselves,  made  aware  of  this  defect, 
have  endeavored  to  find  a remedy  in  the  establishment  of  scien- 
tific courses  adjunctive  to  the  classical  department.  But  as  the 
weight  of  college  influence  is  still  strongly  in  favor  of  the  tradi- 
tional studies,  the  scientific  course.has  held  an  inferior  rank  and 
had  consequently  but  a partial  success. 

The  crowning  effort  to  meet  these  educational  needs  which  the 
old  curriculum  does  not  supply,  has  been  made  by  Congress  in  a 
magnificent  grant  of  public  lands  to  each  State  for  the  founding  of 
institutions  in  which  the  sciences  relating  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  shall  be  prominent  branches  of  instruction.  And 
it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  regime  of  these  new  schools 
reverses  many  of  the  traditionary  maxims  of  the  common  college. 
The  latter  makes  ancient  classics  the  leading  studies  and  admits 
modern  sciences  in  limited  amounts.  The  former  makes  modern 
sciences  the  leading  studies  and  does  not  forbid  the  ancient  clas- 
sics as  subordinate  branches.  The  latter  divorces  labor  and  study 
and  gives  intellectual  culture  often  at  the  expense  of  bodily  sound- 
ness. The  former  unites  labor  and  study  and  makes  their  union 
conduce  to  the  attainment  of  health,  practical  knowledge  and 
manual  skill.  The  one  proceeds  upon  the  theory  that  study 


is  valuable  chiefly  for  its  reflexive  effect,  and  that  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  a curriculum  the  main  question  is  what  branches  will  be 
most  conducive  to  the  discipline  of  the  student.  The  other  bases 
its  system  on  the  belief  that  knowledge  is  valuable  chiefly  for  its 
uses— that  discipline  is  an  incidental  result  of  great  importance 
indeed,  but  depending  more  on  the  manner  of  studying  than  on 
the  matter  studied,  and  that  in  the  selection  of  studies  the  main 
question  is  what  branches  will  be  most  valuable  in  the  pursuits  of 
life.  Both  have  worthy  objects.  The  aim  of  one  is  to  make 
thinkers,  of  the  other  to  make  thinkers  who  are  workers  as  well. 
I regard  that  discipline,  moreover,  the  most  genuine  both  in  qual- 
ity and  extent  which  fits  the  student  for  the  employments  and 
duties  of  after  life. 

Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  beneficent  purpose  we  are  called  to  ful- 
fill in  organizing  the  system  and  courses  of  study  of  the  Iowa 
Agricultural  College.  To  make  it  do  its  part  towards  the  filling 
of  a hiatus  in  the  existing  facilities  for  advanced  education ; to 
uphold  the  dignity  of  labor  and  to  promote  industrial  progress ; 
to  give  to  the  young  men  and  women  who  resort  hither,  the 
means  of  a culture  which  shall  be  unstinted  in  measure,  liberal 
in  range,  and  especially  available  in  the  industries  which  underlie 
the  prosperity  of  this  broad  and  beautiful  state  — these  are  the 
benign  objects  that  will  shape  our  courses  of  study  and  system 
of  government  and  control  our  plans  in  the  selection  of  a corps 
of  efficient  instructors. 

The  following  courses  of  study  selected  and  arranged  according 
to  the  principles  referred  to,  are  proposed  for  the  parallel  depart- 
ments of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts : 

COURSE  OF  STUDY. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE.  DEPARTMENT  OF  MECHANIC  ARTS. 

FIRST  YEAR. 

FIRST  TERM. 

Algebra. 

Physical  Geography. 

Rhetoric. 

Bookkeeping. 

SECOND  TERM. 

Geometry.  # 

Physiology  and  Hygiene. 

English  Language  and  Literature. 


f6] 


SECOND  YEAR. 

FIRST  TERM. 

Trigonometry,  Mensuration  and  Surveying. 

General  Chemistry. 

Botany  and  Vegetable  Physiology. 

SECOND  TERM. 

Mechanics. 

Analytic#*!  Chemistry.  Analytical  Geometry. 

Zoology,  Practical  Agriculture.  Descriptive  Geometry. 

THIRD  YEAR. 

FIRST  TERM. 

Analysis  of  Soils.  Mechanics  of  Engineering. 

Entomology,  Practical  Agriculture.  Shades,  Shadows  and  Perspectives. 

Botany,  Horticulture  and  Forestry.  Differential  and  Integral  Calculus. 

SECOND  TERM. 

Chemical  Physics. 

Geology  and  Mineralogy.  Mechanics  of  Engineering. 

Comparative  Anatomy  and  Physiology.  Machine  Drawing. 

Practical  Agriculture. 

FOURTH  YEAR. 

FIRST  TERM. 

Agricultural  Chemistry.  History  and  Principles  of  Architecture. 

Landscape  Gardening,  Architectural  Drawing.* 

Rural  Architecture.  Carpentry  and  Masonry. 

Political  Economy  and  Logic. 

SECOND  TERM. 

Mental  Philosophy. 

Constitutional  Law. 

Veterinary  Science  and  Art.  Civil  Engineering. 

The  French  and  German  Languages,  Music  and  Free-hand  Drawing  are  option- 
al studies  throughout  the  course. 

SELECTION  AND  SUCCESSION  OF  STUDIES. 

If  it  be  the  aim  of  our  Agricultural  College  to  educate  the 
industrial  classes  by  giving  instruction  in  the  sciences  related  to 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  the  programme  of  studies 
should,  I repeat,  be  arranged  with  special  reference  to  this  object. 

The  selection  and  succession  of  studies  should  be  guided  by  the 
following  considerations : 

1st.  Many  of  the  sciences  related  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  involve  in  a greater  or  less  degree  mathematical 
proces^s.  The  mathematics  should  be  thoroughly  taught  as 
preparatory  to  these. 


[7] 


2d.  The  terms  agriculture  and  mechanics  embrace  a great 
variety  of  operations  based  on  different  sciences.  Each  of  these 
sciences  should  receive  attention  in  ratio  to  its  relative  import- 
ance. 

3d.  As  each  branch  of  science  belongs  to  a group  of  sciences  to 
which  it  is  closely  related,  it  is  impossible  that  the  student  should 
attain  the  mastery  of  a single  branch  without  studying  also  its 
cognate  branches.  For  example,  no  profundity  can  be  reached  in 
geology  without  a knowledge  of  mineralogy,  botany,  and  com- 
parative anatomy. 

4th.  Sciences  or  arts  evolved  from  or  dependent  on  other 
sciences  should  follow  these  in  the  arrangement  of  studies.  Hor- 
ticulture, for  instance,  should  follow  botany  and  vegetable  physi- 
ology— architecture,  descriptive  geometry. 

As  instruments  of  discipline  there  is  much  less  difference 
between  the  various  studies  than  is  generally  believed.  Discip- 
line is  the  result  of  intellectual  effort,  prolonged,  successful,  and 
oft-repeated,  upon  appropriate  objects.  Any  study  whose  classifi- 
cations are  philosophical  and  accurate,  becomes  an  instrument  of 
discipline  if  prosecuted  with  interest,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
any  study  pursued  in  a desultory  manner,  conduces  neither  to 
discipline  nor  to  the  acquisition  of  valuable  knowledge. 

It  must  be  conceded  however,  that  each  of  the  great  groups  of 
scientific  knowledge,  while  it  exercises,  in  study,  all  the  faculties 
of  thought,  appeals  with  more  direct  force  to  faculties  of  a single 
class.  The  natural  sciences  which  classify  the  objects  of  the 
external  world,  train  powerfully  the  faculties  of  perception, 
inductive  reasoning,  and  classification. 

Mathematics,  which  is  the  science  of  abstract  ideas,  and  psy- 
chology, which  classifies  the  powers  of  the  human  mind,  call  into 
intense  action  the  reflective  energies,  while  the  study  of  language 
and  literature  stimulates  the  imagination  and  the  faculty  of 
expression.  It  is  well,  therefore,  that  our  peculiar  purpose 
requires  the  liberal  introduction  of  mathematics  and  that  we 
must  accept,  to  some  extent,  literature  and  psychology  as  subor- 
dinate branches  in  order  to  give  to  our  courses  of  study  a health- 
ful variety. 

I am  gratified  to  add  that  simply  as  a matter  of  broad  and 
generous  culture,  it  is  fortunate  that,  in  our  programme,  the 
natural  sciences  greatly  predominate,  because  outside  of  the  value 


of  the  knowledge  they,  supply,  they  are  as  simple  instruments  of 
discipline  more  effective  than  all  other  studies  together,  and  this 
for  the  reason  that  unlike  other  branches,  they  stimulate  intensely 
the  perceptive  powers  and  furnish  food  for  all  the  other  faculties 
as  well. 

It  is  impossible  in  the  limits  assigned  this  report  to  discuss  the 
merits  and  bearings  of  each  of  the  branches  laid  down  in  the 
scheme  above.  I will  confine  myself,  therefore,  to  a brief  com- 
ment on  such  points  as  seem  to  need  further  notice.  * 

There  is,  in  our  high  schools  and  colleges,  a very  general  lack 
of  instruction  in  the  forms  and  customs  of  business.  It  is  proba- 
bly because  book-keeping  is  not  among  the  abstruse  studies,  that 
it  does  not  find  favor  with  the  majority  of  teachers.  Yet  few 
branches  are  more  important  in  their  bearing  upon  the  success  of 
the  various  industrial  and  other  pursuits.  Every  undertaking, 
whether  it  involves  a few  hundreds  or  millions  of  dollars,  should 
be  conducted  strictly  according  to  the  principles  of  business.  In 
larger  enterprises  no  talents  or  learning  can  compensate  for  the 
absence  of  good  business  habits  and  right  business  views.  Now, 
the  foundation  of  business  efficiency,  is  skill  in  accounts  and  a 
practical  knowledge  of  the  forms  and  instruments  employed  in 
the  different  departments  of  business.  The  acquirement  of  such 
knowlege  is  of  high  value,  whether  in  its  application  to  house- 
keeping, farming,  or  to  the  more  complicated  transactions.  I 
propose,  for  these  reasons,  that  book-keeping  should  find  a place 
as  a regular  study  early  in  the  course,  not  only  of  the  leading 
departments,  but  also  of  every  subordinate  department  of  study 
taught  in  this  institution. 

STUDY  OF  LANGUAGE. 

We  may  reasonably  anticipate  that  those  who  go  forth  as  grad- 
uates from  this  institution,  will,  as  the  years  pass,  become  prom- 
inent in  social  and  industrial  affairs.  The  real  success  of  this 
institution  will  consist  not  so  much  in  the  number  that  throng  its 
halls,  as  in  the  number  of  men  and  women  who  go  out  from 
thence  to  become  high-minded,  influential,  earnest  workers  in  the 
world.  We  should  see  to  it  then,  that  while  we  train  students  for 
special  pursuits,  we  give,  at  the  same  time,  opportunity  for  such 
collateral  attainments  as  will  enable  them,  if  needful,  to  do  good 
service  in  any  public  capacity.  No  knowledge  contributes  more 
to  personal  influence  than  that  which  enables  its  possessor  to  use 


[9] 


the  language  with  habitual  force  and  correctness.  It  is  true  the- 
study  of  the  natural  sciences,  with  their  extensive  and  accurate 
vocabulary,  adds  greatly  to  the  student’s  resources  in  this  regard, 
but,  in  order  to  attain  the  rare  power  of  speaking  or  writing  pure 
English  with  readiness,  the  forces  and  literature  of  the  language 
must  be  thoroughly  studied.  To  meet  this  necessity  the  studies  of 
Rhetoric,  English  Literature,  and  Logic  are  laid  down  in  the 
programme  at  the  proper  intervals  and  early  provision  should  be 
made  for  teaching  them  thoroughly. 

It  will  be  wise  to  provide  in  these  departments  for  giving  in- 
struction in  French  and  German,  so  that  students  may  carry  liter- 
ary studies  beyond  the  English  if  they  so  desire. 

But  to  meet  more  directly  the  necessity  of  fitting  our  students 
for  their  future  duties  as  citizens  of  this  great  republic,  I recom- 
mend that  our  scheme  of  instruction  embrace  Political  Economy 
and  Constitutional  Law.  These  sciences  carefully  taught  will 
prepare  our  educated  farmers  and  mechanics  for  an  intelligent 
decision  of  all  the  great  questions  of  public  utility  and  also  for  the 
creditable  discharge  of  their  duties  as  legislators,  if  called  to  rep- 
resent the  industrial  classes  in  the  councils  of  the  state  or  the 
nation. 

IDENTICAL  STUDIES  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DEPARTMENTS. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  first  studies  in  each  of  the  parallel 
courses  proposed  are  identical.  This  arises  from  the  following 
considerations : 

1.  That  all  students  intending  to  graduate  should  pursue  the 
commercial  and  literary  studies  specified  above ; and, 

2.  That  most  of  these  branches,  which  are  the  same  in  both 
departments,  are  properly  introductory  to  the  special  or  profess- 
ional course  in  each. 

An  inspection  of  the  programme  and  a little  reflection  will 
show  that  these  branches  ought  to  precede  a special  course  in  any 
of  the  industrial  sciences  or  arts.  Moreover,  while  prosecuting 
these  general  branches,  the  student  will  gain  a maturer  judgment 
to  settle  intelligently  which  of  the  special  departments  he  will 
subsequently  enter.  For  these  reasons,  I commend  them  to 
you  as  proper  for  the  earlier  ‘studies  of  nearly  every  department 
now  or  hereafter  established.  An  incidental  advantage  arising 
therefrom  will  be,  that  professors  in  any  one  of  these  branches 
can  supply  the  earlier  instruction  in  it  for  all  the  courses. 


[10] 


DEPARTMENT  FOR  LADIES. 

The  action  of  the  trustees  in  admitting  girls  and  young  ladies 
to  the  College  and  giving  them  full  participation  in  all  its  privi- 
leges, has  my  most  hearty  concurrence.  In  fact  this  policy  is 
simply  a recognition  of  their  rights  under  the  national  law.  The 
endowment  was  evidently  made  for  the  noble  purpose  of  educa- 
ting the  industrial  classes  without  distinction  of  sex.  The  time 
is  rapidly  approaching  in  this  republic  when  the  human  mind 
shall  be  free  to  follow  its  own  promptings  in  seeking  a full  devel- 
opment. Amidst  the  various  opinions  on  this  subject  expressed 
of  late,  one  proposition  stands  unquestioned.  Every  human  being 
of  either  sex  or  any  race  who  has  reached  the  years  of  discretion, 
has  the  right  of  election  as  to  the  means  of  self-culture.  It  is  the 
glory  of  this  state  that  it  stands  among  the  first  of  the  states 
to  meet  in  the  organization  of  its  various  institutions,  the  obliga- 
tions which  this  right  imposes.  Let  the  Agricultural  College  in 
common  with  all  the  schools  of  Iowa,  of  whatever  rank,  be 
opened  to  the  admission,  under  proper  conditions,  of  both  sexes 
and  all  races.  The  trustees  will  of  course  supplement  their  action 
admitting  girls  and  young  ladies,  by  supplying  all  the  facilities 
for  instruction  which  their  special  needs  may  require.  But  while 
their  special  needs  are  fully  met,  they  should,  in  harmony  with 
the  principle  noticed  above,  be  left  entirely  free  to  engage  in  any 
of  the  studies  of  other  departments. 

I would  accordingly  advise  that  adequate  provision  be  made  for 
teaching  French  and  German,  Vocal  and  Instrumental  Music, 
and  Drawing.  Still  while  opportunity  for  thoroughness  in  these 
branches  should  be  given  by  engaging  the  best  instructors  which 
the  country  can  furnish,  they  should  be  regarded  as  subordinate 
to  the  more  solid  acquirements  made  by  progress  in  mathematics 
and  the  natural  sciences.  Just  as  the  amusements  of  life,  import- 
ant as  they  are,  should  be  subordinate  to  its  serious  employments, 
so  the  ornamental  portion  of  education  for  either  sex  should  be 
made  secondary  to  more  solid  attainments.  Accordingly,  the 
first  twelve  studies,  common  to  all  of  the  departments  already 
arranged,  will  be  equally  appropriate  for  young  ladies,  while  the 
study  of  some  of  these,  such  as  Book-keeping,  Physiology,  Hy- 
giene, and  Physical  Culture,  will  be  of  especial  value.  To  these 
should  be  added  instruction  as  proposed  above  in  French,  German, 


Music  and  Drawing  as  optional  studies.  The  more  special  prepa- 
ration for  industrial  pursuits  may  be  found  in  the  addition  to  this 
department,  of  the  study  of  Domestic  Economy.  Other  studies 
from  the  departments  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  such 
as  Political  Economy  and  Horticulture  and  Mental  Philosophy, 
may  complete  the  course. 

SUBORDINATE  DEPARTMENTS. 

Other  departments  of  instruction  may  be  added  to  answer  de- 
mands not  provided  for  by  the  studies  of  the  departments  pro- 
posed. Among  the  most  important  perhaps  are  the  Department 
of  Civil  Engineering,  the  Department  of  Business  and  the  Nor- 
mal Department.  To  each  of  these  departments  the  first  twelve 
studies  on  the  regular  programme  will  serve  as  an  appropriate 
introduction. 

The  course  of  Civil  Engineering  will  consist  of  such  additional 
studies  as  Descriptive  and  Analytical  Geometry  as  in  the 
Department  of  the  Mechanic  Arts.  Theory  and  use  of 
Instruments  and  Field-Works,  Geographical  Drawing,  Higher 
Astronomy,  Theory  of  Motors,  Plans  of  Elevations  of  Engin- 
eering Structures.  Also  Architectural  Drawing,  Analytical 
Mechanics,  as  in  the  Department  of  Mechanic  Arts,  and  Ge- 
ology and  Mental  Philosophy,  as  in  all  the  other  departments. 
This  department  will  be  a school  of  preparation  for  many  young 
men  who  make  choice  of  civil  engineering  as  a future  pursuit. 

The  Department  of  Business  will  be  established  for  the  benefit 
of  such  students  as  desire  to  fit  themselves  for  engaging  in  any  of 
the  various  employments  of  business.  The  special  course, 
besides  the  twelve  studies  common  to  all  the  departments, 
will  comprise  Commercial  Arithmetic,  Business  Forms,  Com- 
mercial Law,  Political  Economy,  Exchange,  Banking,  Cur- 
rency. 

The  Normal  Department  will  aim  to  give  special  training 
to  those  of  both  sexes  who  choose  to  teach,  either  for  a long  or  a 
limited  period  in  the  schools  of  the  state.  This  institution, 
while  accomplishing  its  special  mission,  ought  to  make  some 
contribution  to  the  educating  forces  outside  its  walls.  No  state, 
however  it  may  multiply  normal  schools,  can  make  provisions 
adequate  to  its  wants  in  this  regard.  Shall  we  not  do  our  part 
among  the  noble  workers  who  are  striving  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  efficient  teachers  for  the  public  schools  ? Probably  many 


[12] 


students  from  all  our  departments  will  employ  the  annual  winter 
vacation  in  teaching.  There  should  be  arranged  for  such  a short 
course  of  normal  instruction. 

The  course  of  study  for  the  Normal  Department  should  include, 

1.  The  branches  common  to  all  the  other  departments. 

2.  The  following  subjects  : Organization  and  Government  of 
Schools ; Methods  of  Teaching;  Primary  Instruction;  Natural  order 
of  studies  corresponding  to  the  order  of  evolution  of  the  intellect- 
ual powers,  Mental  Philosophy  as  applied  to  the  wTork  of  the 
school-room  ; Pigid  review  of  the  common  branches. 

ALL  COURSES  OF  STUDY  OPTIONAL. 

It  is  generally  conceded  by  experienced  instructors  that  com- 
pulsory study  is  fatal  to  progress.  The  genuine  motive  for  ap- 
plication is  a hearty  interest  in  the  science  pursued.  The  pleasure 
arising  from  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  is,  perhaps,  the  only 
condition  on  which  the  habit  of  studying  'intensely  can  be  formed. 
Not  one-half  the  students  who  are  compelled  to  pursue  the  studies 
of  a single  inflexible  course,  attain  to  a respectability  therein,  even 
under  such  inferior  incentives  as  prizes  and  the  marking  system. 
There  is  in  such  cases  a deal  of  intellectual  dawdling,  especially 
in  the  studies  of  Latin  and  Greek.  Better  by  far  that  a student 
should  apply  himself  even  to  an  inferior  study  with  a manful 
earnestness  than  that  he  should  pursue  a superior  one  with  a 
vacillating  purpose.  The  one  is  the  true  educating  process ; the 
other,  if  continued,  will  make  scholarship  forever  impossible. 

Many  earnest  educators  believe  that  this  evil  will  find  remedy 
in  giving,  to  all  students,  freedom  to  select  between  the  series  of 
studies  of  different  departments  or  even  between  the  studies  of 
any  single  one.  From  the  above  considerations,  I believe  this 
position  is  correct.  It  is  in  any  event  worthy  of  trial.  I there- 
fore recommend  that  all  applicants  of  both  sexes,  who  are 
admitted  to  the  college,  be  allowed  a liberty  of  choice  in  studies, 
limited  only  by  the  fact  that  some  branches  are  necessarily  ante- 
cedent to  others.  If  it  be  thought  that  many  applicants  will  be 
too  young,  on  entering,  to  decide  intelligently  so  important  a 
matter,  the  objection  disappears  when  we  consider  that  the  study 
of  the  series  common  to  all  the  departments,  are,  in  the  main, 
necessarily  antecedent  to  the  special  courses  that  follow,  and  that 
the  tyro  before  accomplishing  these,  can,  with  an  improved 


[13] 


judgment,  make  choice  of  the  department  to  which  he  will  sub- 
sequently attach  himself.  Even  beyond  this,  it  may  be  well  to 
admit  those  who  desire  to  pursue  a single  study,  to  attend  any 
course  of  lectures,  or  after  finishing  the  studies  necessarily  ante- 
cedent, to  make  combinatiqgis  of  their  own  from  the  studies  of 
the  different  departments. 

GENERAL  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

A liberal  and  practical  education  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  of  life,  implies  not  only  a knowledge  of  the  sciences 
on  which  these  pursuits  are  based,  but  power  and  skill  also  to 
apply  this  knowledge  in  the  corresponding  arts.  It  will  be  our 
earnest  purpose  to  promote  the  practical  education  of  our  pupils 
in  this  elevated  sense. 

Throughout  the  various  departments,  the  sciences  related  to  the 
industrial  pursuits,  will  be  taught  in  their  actual  application. 
The  science  and  the  art  will  be  learned  in  succession, — the  first  by 
study,  the  second  by  actual  practice.  Botany,  for  example,  will 
be  studied  and  its  principles  at  once  applied  in  the  practice  of  the 
horticultural  art.  The  mathematical  principles  involved  in  sur- 
veying will  be  reduced  to  immediate  practice  with  the  instrument, 
in  the  field.  Chemistry  will  be  made  to  reveal  to  the  persevering- 
student,  by  personal  experiment,  the  elements  of  the  various  soils 
and  the  art  of  fertilization. 

Along  with  such  study  and  practice,  there  should  be  given,  by 
the  proper  professors,  familiar  lectures  on  the  various  handicrafts 
brought  into  exercise  on  the  farm,  in  the  garden,  and  in  the  work- 
shop. These  lectures  should  embrace,  manufacture  and  manage- 
ment of  implements ; methods  of  plowing,  sowing,  cultivating, 
and  gathering  of  crops;  processes  in  planting,  grafting,  and 
pruning  of  trees ; treatment  in  breeding,  feeding,  housing,  and 
training  of  domestic  animals ; raising  of  vegetables ; rotation  of 
crops ; laying  out  of  farms ; fencing  of  fields ; methods  of  con- 
structing roads,  drains,  and  bridges;  plans  for  farm-buildings; 
management  of  machinery;  processes  and  plans  in  household 
economy,  and  numerous  other  topics  of  a similar  character. 

MANUAL  LABOR. 

The  system  and  method  of  instruction  proposed  make  manual 
labor  by  the  students  indispensable.  It  is  impossible  to  illustrate 
the  application  of  the  principles  of  science  to  the  processes  in  the 


[14] 


various  arts  without  daily  practice  of  the  eye  and  the  hand. 
Evidently  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  statute  which  re- 
quires the  students  of  the  Iowa  Agricultural  College,  to  work  two 
hours  a day  in  winter  and  three  in  summer,  was,  that  manual 
labor  should  be  one  of  the  educating  forces  of  the  institution.  It 
will  be  the  earnest  endeavor  of  the  President  and  Faculty  to 
make  it  subserve  this  worthy  object.  To  accept  of  manual  labor 
as  a dignified  auxiliary  in  our  noble  enterprise — to  render  it  sub- 
servient to  physical  culture— to  the  preservation  of  health  by  pre- 
vention of  the  multitude  of  diseases  to  which  sedentary  life  is 
liable — to  the  giving  of  a salutary  variety  to  the  employments  of 
the  day,— these  are  valuable  but  collateral  objects.  They  do  not 
include  the  main  purpose  which  was  to  make  scientific  knowledge 
practical  and  familiar  to  the  last  degree  by  applying  it  to  its  various 
uses.  There  may  be  some  doubt  whether  daily  compensated 
manual  labor  on  the  part  of  the  students  will  be  pecuniarily 
profitable  to  the  institution,  but  there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a doubt 
that  it  will  be  profitable  to  the  students  themselves.  The  Michi- 
gan Agricultural  College  has  had  a successful  trial  of  manual 
labor,  as  required  daily,  for  several  years,  and  I am  glad  to  know 
that  the  Industrial  University  of  Illinois  has  adopted  it  as  a 
prominent  feature  of  its  organization. 

The  young  ladies  and  girls  of  the  Agricultural  College  will,  of 
course,  in  fulfilling  the  requirements,  engage,  by  rotation,  in  all 
the  different  processes  of  the  housekeepers’  art,  while  the  young 
men  and  boys  will,  before  they  graduate,  gain  experience  in  the 
various  employments  of  the  farm  and  the  garden,  or  the  work- 
shop. 

In  the  exercise  of  all  these  handicrafts,  the  student  will  have  the 
encouragement  and  supervision  of  those  professors  who  have  them 
more  immediately  in  charge.  I recommend  that  the  arrangement 
for  daily  manual  labor  be  extended  to  all  the  working  days  of  the 
week  except  Saturday,  and  that  it  be  limited  to  two  hours  during 
the  months  of  March,  April,  October  and  November,  and  three 
hours  during  the  remaining  months  of  the  college  year. 

PROFESSORSHIPS  FOR  ALE  THE  DEPARTMENTS  PROPOSED. 

The  number  of  professorships  necessary  for  all  the  departments 
will  be  less  than  might  be  expected.  In  providing  instruction  for 
the  earlier  studies  of  one  course  you  provide  for  them  all.  A pro- 
fessor of  any  branch  will  be  a vailable  for  any  of  the  departments 


[15] 


in  which  such  branch  is  taught.  The  following  list  comprises  all 
the  Professors  that  will 'be  needed  under  the- organization  contem- 
plated : 

A Professor  of  Human  Physiology,  Hygiene  and  Physical  Cul- 
ture. 

A Professor  of  Mathematics. 

A Professor  of  English  Language  and  Literature. 

A Professor  of  Political  Economy  and  Constitutional  Law. 

A Professor  of  Logic  and  Psychology. 

A Professor  of  Botany  and  Horticulture. 

A Professor  of  Practical  Agriculture  and  Veterinary  Science. 

A Professor  of  Zoology  and  Entomology. 

A Professor  of  Chemistry,  General  and  Analytical. 

A Professor  of  Geology  and  Mineralogy. 

A Professor  of  Physics  and  Mechanics. 

A Professor  of  Descriptive  Geometry  and  Architecture. 

A Professor  of  Civil  Engineering. 

A Professor  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Teaching. 

A Professor  of  Military  Engineering. 

A Professor  of  French  and  German. 

A Professor  of  Vocal  and  Instrumental  Music. 

An  Instructor  in  Drawing. 

A Matron,  who  will  instruct  in  Domestic  Economy  and  House- 
hold Duties. 

The  full  catalogue  contains  seventeen  professors  who  will  be 
needed  when  all  the  departments  are  in  complete  operation. 
From  the  nature  of  the  enterprise,  several  years  will  elapse,  how- 
ever, before  we  can  organize  the  higher  classes,  and  some  of  the 
professorships,  moreover,  will  be  filled  probably  by  non-resident 
professors.  The  professorships  in  Mathematics,  in  Practical  Agri- 
culture, in  English  Literature,  in  Chemistry  and  in  Geology  are 
already  filled.  The  professor  of  Botany  and  Horticulture  should  be 
a man  who  adds  fine  attainments  in  these  branches  to  several 
years  of  successful  experience. 

I suggest  that,  so  fast  as  the  necessities  of  the  departments 
require,  the  remaining  professorships  be  filled  with  young  men 
styled  assistant  professors  who,  in  their  energy,  scholarship,  and 
teaching  ability,  shall  give  promise  of  great  usefulness,  and  who 
will  serve  for  diminished  salaries  under  the  expectation  of  at- 
taining to  full  professorships  after  a few  years  of  approved  labor. 


[16] 

Let  the  advancement  of  the  teachers  and  the  growth  of  the  insti- 
tution go  forward  together. 

NON  RESIDENT  PROFESSORS. 

Beside  the  regular  working  force,  the  trustees  have  adopted 
the  views  of  the  committee  on  organization,  in  appointing  men 
eminent  in  special  sciences  and  arts,  to  deliver  courses  of  lec- 
tures before  the  students  and  such  citizens  as  desire  to  attend. 
Six  of  these  non-resident  professorships  have,  I learn,  already 
been  filled  by  the  selection  of  distinguished  gentlemen  from  dif- 
ferent institutions  of  the  country. 

We  may  safely  anticipate  that  their  lectures  delivered  during 
the  winter,  will  attract  prominent  farmers  and  mechanics  from 
all  parts  of  the  state. 

KIND  OF  MEN  NEEDED  IN  THE  FACULTY, 

Of  the  professors  to  be  appointed,  the  number  is  of  far  less  im- 
portance than  the  quality.  I can  not  forbear  expressing  my 
hearty  sympathy  with  the  committee  on  organization,  in  their 
views  respecting  the  character  of  the  men  required  for  the  fac- 
ulty. No  list  of  professional  chairs,  however  formidable,  will 
avail  to  secure  the  prosperity  of  the  college,  if  they  be  filled  with 
incompetent,  inefficient  professors.  We  want  a corps  of  earnest, 
energetic,  scholarly  workers,  men  harmonious  in  action,  loving 
their  work,  self-sacrificing,  if  need  be,  men  up  to  the  times,  pro- 
gressive yet  cautious,  attracted  to  this  enterprise  by  sympathy 
in  its  objects  and  faith  in  its  success. 

It  is  a matter  for  congratulation  that  three  of  the  chairs  are 
filled  so  worthily.  Dr.  Townshencl,  who  fills  the  chair  of  Practi- 
cal Agriculture,  was  raised  on  a farm  in  northern  Ohio,  studied 
medicine  and  graduated  in  1840  from  the  medical  department  of 
the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  then  spent  a year 
or  more  in  European  hospitals  at  the  same  time  visiting  most  of 
the  agricultural  and  veterinary  schools  on  that  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  After  a few  years  devoted  to  the  practice  of  surgery, 
he  was  elected  successively  to  both  branches  of  the  Legislature 
and  to  Congress.  At  the  close  of  his  political  services,  he  settled 
upon  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  farms  in  Northern  Ohio. 
Becoming  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  a scientific  education 
for  young  farmers  he  associated  with  three  other  gentlemen  and 
for  some  years  sustained  an  agricultural  college  at  Cleveland, 


Ohio.  For  several  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  Dr. 
Townshend  was  a member  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and 
twice  President  of  that  body.  He  Was  again  a member  of  that 
board  at  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  chair  of  Practical  Agricul- 
ture, No  better  man  for  the  position  he  holds  could  be  found  in 
the  country. 

Prof.  George  W.  Jones  graduated  at  Yale  in  1859.  The  class 
of  which  he  was  a member  numbered  one  hundred  and  five 
students,  and  yet  he  took  half  of  all  the  prizes  offered  for 
superiority  in  mathematics.  After  his  graduation  he  taught 
three  years  successfully  in  General  Russell’s  Military  School.  He 
then  accepted  the  professorship  of  Mathematics  in  Franklin 
Institute,  New  York,  and  after  two  years’  service  in  that  insti- 
tution, became  its  Principal.  This  office  he  filled  with  great 
success  for  several  years  until  he  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  Math- 
ematics in  the  Iowa  Agricultural  College.  No  man  ever  brought 
to  such  a post  higher  recommendations  or  surer  prospects  oi 
success. 

Dr.  A.  E.  Foote,  assistant  professor  of  Chemistry,  studied  suc- 
cessively in  Courtland  Academy,  Madison  University,  Harvard, 
and  the  Michigan  University,  graduating  as  a Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  the  last-named  institution  in  1867.  He  studied  chemistry 
under  Prof.  Wolcott  Gibbs  of  Harvard,  and  Prof.  Silas  H.  Doug- 
lass of  Michigan  University.  Such  was  his  unusual  proficiency 
in  this  science  that  he  was  appointed  instructor  in  chemistry 
immediately  on  his  graduation,  which  position  he  held  at  the 
time  of  his  appointment  in  this  institution. 

The  policy  of  the  committee  in  scrutinizing  the  antecedents  of 
every  candidate  is  a genuine  one.  Better  that  the  remaining 
chairs  should  be  vacant  long,  and  that  the  search  should  be 
patient  and  protracted,  than  that  a single  occupant  should  prove 
hereafter  a hindrance  rather  than  a help. 

PREPARATORY  SCHOOL. 

You  have  already  decided  that  a preparatory  school  shall  be 
opened  in  the  building  for  the  benefit  of  students  not  prepared  to 
begin  the  college  courses.  The  instruction  in  such  a school  should 
be  limited  to  advanced  Grammar,  Higher  Arithmetic,  Local  Geog- 
raphy, Penmanship,  Orthography  and  Elocution.  I would  sug- 
gest that  the  preparatory  school  should  be  discontinued  in  the 


college  building,  whenever  the  number  of  regular  college  students 
is  large  enough  to  occupy  all  the  available  rooms.  If  it  be  thought 
best  provision  could  be  made  for  a preparatory  school  elsewhere. 
The  better  class  of  common  schools  are  the  legitimate  feeders  of 
an  agricultural  college. 

QUALIFICATIONS  REQUIRED  FOR  ADMISSION  TO  THE  DEPART- 
MENTS OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

For  the  prasent  it  is  perhaps  expedient  that  pupils  who  hold 
the  certificate  of  the  County  Superintendent,  should  be  received  to 
any  college  department  on  passing  a thorough  examination  in  all 
the  branches  taught  in  the  preparatory  school  as  noticed  above. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  all  other  applicants  should  be  admitted  to 
vacant  rooms  (if  there  be  any)  in  the  order  of  application  until 
the  building  is  filled,  and  that  of  those  who  find  board  and  rooms 
outside,  the  number  of  admissions  to  the  privileges  of  the  institu- 
tion be  limited  only  by  the  capacity  of  the  chapel  and  recitation 
rooms.  Let  us  hope  that  as  the  years  pass,  facilities  for  outside 
board  will  be  greatly  increased. 

LIBRARY,  MUSEUMS,  APPARATUS. 

It  need  not  be  said  to  this  board  that  on  the  extent  of  its  library, 
its  museums  and  means  of  illustration,  depend,  in  great  degree, 
its  reputation  and  growth.  I learn  with  pleasure  that  liberal 
sums  have  already  been  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  books 
and  specimens  to  serve  as  nuclei  for  a library  and  a museum,  and 
also  for  sets  of  chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus.  It  is  hoped 
that  our  funds  will  admit  of  annual  additions  to  these  instruments 
of  progress. 

In  every  institution  of  higher  learning,  the  means  of  illustra- 
tion are  second  in  importance  only  to  the  men  who  instruct,  and 
in  schools  of  science  taught  in  its  relation  to  the  useful  arts,  an 
ample  equipment  of  books,  models,  apparatus,  &c.,  has  a special 
value  which  can  not  be  overstated.  I propose  that,  if  it  meets 
the  views  of  the  board,  all  our  collections  shall,  for  the  present,  be 
special  helps  in  the  accomplishment  of  our  leading  purpose,  and 
that  general  collections  be  left  to  the  future.  Our  library  should, 
at  first,  be  mainly  composed  of  works  on  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  Our  museum  should  be  made  as  early  as  possible 
to  illustrate  completely  the  mammals,  birds,  fishes,  reptiles,  and 


19] 


insects  of  this  State,  as  also  its  fruits,  grains,  grasses,  esculent  roots, 
and  its  productions  in  minerals  and  metals. 

Bulky  machines  and  perishable  products  may  be  represented 
by  models. 

We  have  lately  received  Dr.  Shaffer’s  fine  collections  in  orni- 
thology, entomology,  &c. 

The  trustees  may  be  assured  that  the  board  of  instruction  will 
engage  with  zeal  and  energy  in  this  attractive  portion  of  their 
work.  It  will  be  their  steady  purpose  that,  at  no  distant  day,  the 
Iowa  Agricultural  College  shall  stand  foremost  among  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  West,  not  only  in  the  range  and  thoroughness  of 
the  instruction  it  gives,  but  also  for  the  fullness  and  variety  of  its 
equipment. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  Professors  be  invited  to  hand  in 
lists  of  books  for  reference,  apparatus,  and  means  of  illustration 
needed  in  their  respective  departments,  and  that  a catalogue  of 
purchases  be  made  from  these.  All  the  works  in  our  language  of 
leading  men,  in  modern  science  and  art,  should  be  gathered. 
Books  should  be  obtained  from  the  publishing  firms  at  the  lowest 
possible  rates. 


SYSTEM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

Many  who  have  engaged  in  organizing  the  schools  of  science 
established  under  the  congressional  grant,  are  anxiously  enquir- 
ing what  system  is  best  adapted  to  secure  the  purposes  of 
good  government.  The  subject  is  beset  with  difficulties.  It 
is  to  be  greatly  regretted  that  in  a matter  of  such  moment, 
we  are  without  reliable  precedents.  Of  all  the  various  codes 
submitted  to  experiment  in  the  institutions  of  higher  learn- 
ing, many  have  failed  disastrously,  and  few  have  had  more 
than  a partial  success.  Schools  of  lower  rank  have  been 
more  successfully  controlled  because  instructors  in  these  have 
the  pupils  under  their  more  immediate  personal  influence, 
and  regard  it  their  province  to  govern  as  well  as  to  teach.  In 
colleges  and  universities  there  are  abundant  examples  of  excellent 
systems  of  instruction  but  examples  within  my  experience  of  a 
system  of  government  that  maintains  a uniform  discipline  and 
good  order,  are  very  rare.  Indeed  there  are  seasons  in  the  history 
of  nearly  all  higher  institutions  in  the  land,  when  their  laws  are 
set  at  naught,  their  authority  defied — seasons  when  the  demon  of 


[20] 


turbulence  takes  possession  of  the  students  and  refuses  to  be  ex- 
orcised. Those  institutions  whose  students  are  gathered  in  large 
bodies  under  the  dormitory  system  are  most  exposed  to  such 
visitations.  Buildings  erected  at  great  expense  for  their  conven- 
ience and  comfort  are  generally  defaced  and  their  neatness  and 
beauty  destroyed  in  a spirit  of  mischief,  simple  and  pure.  Recita- 
tions and  lectures  are  liable  to  gross  disturbance  and  the  professors 
subjected  to  gratuitous  rudeness.  Not  a few  eminent  instructors 
regard  these  improprieties  as  incidents  inseparable  from  college 
life,  and  therefore  accept  them  with  what  grace  they  can  muster, 
as  remediless  evils.  Public  opinion  too  seems  to  treat  them  with 
a similar  forbearance.  Many  a graduate  narrates  his  college 
“ scrapes  ” to  admiring  listeners  who  applaud  them  as  commend- 
able achievements. 

Now  this  is  all  wrong.  The  government  of  an  institution  of 
learning  is  an  educating  force  by  no  means  inferior  in  its  purpo- 
ses, to  the  other  educating  forces.  It  aims  not  so  much  to  secure 
the  present  convenience  of  good  order  and  system  and  quiet,  as  to 
exert  a salutary  influence  on  the  character  of  the  pupil.  It  is 
indeed  the  prime  agency  for  promoting  habits  of  industry, 
promptness,  earnestness  and  self-control.  The  intellectual  forces 
of  a college  are  comprised  in  its  system  of  instruction,  but  its 
moral  forces  are  to  no  small  extent  embodied  in  its  system  of 
government,  and  no  completeness  in  the  former  can  compensate 
for  weakness  in  the  latter.  It  is  quite  as  important,  to  say  the 
least,  that  young  men  should  attain  gentlemanly  manners,  ex- 
emplary conduct,  and  a wholesome  respect  for  proper  authority 
as  that  they  should  attain  a knowledge  of  geometry  and  the  me- 
chanics. Nor  is  there  any  peculiar  reason  why  good  government 
should  not  attain  its  objects  in  college  as  well  as  out  of  college. 
Young  men  engaged  in  literary  and  scientific  pursuits  are  not  by 
nature  less  reasonable  or  less  inclined  to  submit  to  salutary  laws 
than  young  men  engaged  in  other  pursuits.  By  far  the  majority 
are  studious,  well  disposed,  and  even  in  sympathy  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  good  government.  It  is  only  the  disorderly  few  who  are 
the  makers  of  mischief  and  give  to  the  discipline  of  the  college 
its  peculiar  character.  Now  to  leave  the  conduct  of  the  minority 
to  their  own  manliness,  according  to  the  time-honored  practice  of 
the  German  universities,  would  reverse  all  the  maxims  of  gov- 
ernment, and  work  to  many  young  men,  irreparable  injury.  On 


the  other  hand,  a code  of  laws  making  numerous  and  petty 
restrictions  sure  to  be  disregarded,  is  an  evil  almost  as  serious. 
Surely,  there  is  somewhere  between  the  extremes  of  governing 
too  much  or  governing  not  at  all,  a middle  course  which  will 
constitute  a basis  for  governing  well. 

All  men  need  restraint.  None  ever  reach  such  perfection  of 
self-control  as  to  dispense  safely  with  all  external  disciplinary 
influences.  When  the  finest  cultured  men  of  the  nation  meet  in, 
assembly  they  require  a chairman  to  conduct  business  and  keep 
order,  and  if  the  chairman  be  inadequate  to  his  duties,  disorder 
is  the  sure  result. 

Nothing  could  be  more  cruelly  unjust  than  to  withdraw  a youth 
at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  or  sixteen  from  the  restraints  at  home 
and  leave  him  unrestrained  to  the  bad  influences  usually  afloat  in 
the  atmosphere  of  a university.  The  German  students,  with 
their  false  codes  of  honor  and  their  faces  scarred  by  duels  with 
the  sword,  are  proofs  of  the  want  of  wisdom  in  such  a policy. 

The  only  institutions  within  my  knowledge,  which,  as  a class, 
sustain  a good  government,  are  those  which  admit  students  of 
both  sexes.  The  influence  of  boys  and  girls  upon  each  other  in 
school,  is,  under  proper  restraint,  salutary  in  a high  degree. 
Antioch  College,  Oberlin  College,  and,  I am  glad  to  learn,  Iowa 
University  are  examples. 

The  failure  to  maintain  good  government  in  any  institution 
arises  from  several  causes,  among  which  the  following  are  prom- 
inent: 

1.  Lack  of  gubernatorial  ability  on  the  part  of  the  executive. 

2.  Lack  of  interest  in  the  government  on  the  part  of  the 
faculty. 

3.  Conflicting  policies  among  the  professors  in  their  treatment 
of  students. 

4.  Want  of  a single  well-defined  system  which  every  professor 
engages  to  maintain. 

5.  Dissensions  among  the  faculty. 

6.  Antagonism  between  students  and  the  faculty. 

7.  Lack  of  high  moral  sentiments  on  the  part  of  students. 

It  is  far  easier  to  prevent  these  evils  from  germinating  than  to 
eradicate  them  after  they  have  taken  root.  I know  of  no  subject 
to  which  the  trustees  can  more  profitably  give  their  attention 
than  to  provide  in  the  beginning  against  these  sources  of  trouble, 


especially  as  they  have  crippled  the  growth  of  many  institutions 
as  promising  as  this.  I would  urge,  therefore,  that  in  every 
addition  to  the  faculty  made  hereafter,  satisfactory  evidence 
should  be  gathered,  not  only  that  the  candidate  is  proficient  in 
his  specialty,  but  that  he  has  worked  hitherto  in  harmony  with 
his  co-laborers  and  been  able  to  maintain  perfect  order  in  his 
classes.  He  should  agree  also  to  interest  himself,  to  any  needed 
extent,  in  carrying  out  the  system  of  government  provided  for 
the  maintenance  of  discipline,  and  my  long  experience  in  such 
matters  leads  me  to  urge,  as  a policy,  that  any  member  of  the 
faculty  who  shall  hereafter  prove  himself  inefficient  or  intractable 
as  a sustainer  of  the  system  of  government,  shall  immediately  be 
requested  to  resign. 

I would  further  advise : 

1.  That  the  president  be  regarded  as  the  sole  executive ; that  he 
be  held  responsible  for  the  classification  of  the  students  and  the 
administration  of  the  laws ; that  the  professors  give  him  all  neces- 
sary aid  in  the  performance  of  these  duties ; that  the  superinten- 
dent of  the  garden  and  the  farm  be  instructed  to  report  for  his 
confirmation,  at  stated  intervals,  their  progress,  wants  and  plans 
in  the  furtherance  of  these  departments  of  the  enterprise,  and 
that  he  detail  students  for  labor  in  accordance  with  these  plans. 

2.  That  each  professor  have  charge  and  entire  control  of  ap- 
paratus and  other  facilities  provided  for  the  instruction  of  his 
classes,  that  he  be  the  sole  arbiter  in  the  selection  of  text- 
books and  methods  of  instruction,  and  that  he  keep  a record  of 
the  daily  progress  of  each  student,  and  report  to  the  president  for 
general  record  at  the  end  of  the  term. 

3.  That  the  faculty  constitute  a legislative  body,  meeting  at 
stated  times,  to  make  laws  for  the  college  ; that  their  proceedings 
be  regulated  according  to  parliamentary  usage,  and  that  each 
member  including  the  presiding  officer  have  the  right  to  vote. 

4.  That  the  faculty  be  the  judicial  body  meeting  for  the  trial 
of  offenders  when  occasion  requires. 

5.  That  the  board  of  trustees  reserve  the  right  to  examine  and 
reverse  the  decisions  of  the  president  and  faculty,  when  acting  in 
their  respective  capacities. 

G.  That  the  president  and  professors  be  required  to  promote,  in 
all  jjroper  ways,  the  religious,  aesthetic  and  social  culture  of 
their  pupils,  and  that  stated  meetings  be  held  for  this  purpose. 


7.  That  discussions  or  instruction  in  sectarianism  or  party  pol- 
itics  are  forbidden  in  the  college. 

8.  That  the  president  be  required  to  make  an  annual  written 
report  to  the  trustees  on  the  condition  and  progress  of  the  college, 
together  with  his  views  as  to  additional  facilities  needful  for  its 
further  development,  and  embodying  the  report  of  the  other 
officers  in  their  various  departments. 


November  5,  1868. 

The  institution  opened  on  the  21st  of  October  according  to  pub- 
lic notice  and  has  been  in  operation  two  weeks.  Sixty-one  stu- 
dents have  been  admitted,  fifty-four  young  men  and  seven  young 
ladies.  Thirty-five  of  these  have  brought  certificates  of  appoint- 
ment from  the  Superintendents  of  schools  in  the  various  counties. 
Others  are  coming  in  daily  so  that  the  number  will  probably 
reach  one  hundred  before  the  middle  of  the  term.  All  students 
admitted  have  been  classified  by  examination.  Many  are  pur- 
suing one  or  more  of  the  college  studies,  but  none  have,  as  yet, 
gained  complete  admission  to  the  college  courses.  So  far  all  have 
been  found  deficient  in  one  or  more  of  the  branches  re- 
quired as  preparatory  to  the  college  and  are  now  engaged  in 
studying  these.  There  will  probably  be,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
regular  year  (next  March),  a small  class  in  the  second  year  of  the 
college  studies,  and  a class  of  between  one  and  two  hundred  in  the 
studies  of  the  first  year.  The  faculty  are  greatly  pleased  with  the 
animus  of  the  students  thus  far.  They  are  quiet,  orderly,  studi- 
ous and  cheerful.  Two  hours  every  afternoon  they  engage  in 
manual  labor  with  great  spirit.  They  spend  the  evening  (three 
hours)  in  study — the  forenoon  (five  hours)  in  study  and  recitation, 
and  the  afternoon  (four  hours)  in  labor  and  recreation.  Dr.  E. 
A.  Foote,  Dr.  Townshend  and  Prof.  Geo.  W.  Jones  are  here, 
employed  in  giving  instruction.  The  departments  of  labor, 
boarding  and  study  are  being  rapidly  settled  under  an  efficient 
and  permanent  system. 

THE  OPENING  OF  THE  REGULAR  YEAR. 

The  present  fragmentary  term  will  close  on  the  seventh  of  Jan- 
uary, 1869.  The  vacation  that  follows  will  be  shorter  by  nearly 
one-half  than  the  winter  vacation  of  the  regular  year,  if  the  first 
regular  college  year  should  commence  on  the  first  Wednesday  of 


r 


112 105653304 


[24] 

March,  1869.  I recommend  that  this  first  vacation  be  made  two 
weeks  longer  by  opening  the  first  regular  year  on  the  third 
Wednesday  of  March  instead  of  the  first. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

The  progress  of  the  institution  thus  auspiciously  opened,  will 
necessarily  be  slow.  A great  enterprise,  whose  beneficent  effects 
are  to  last  for  ages,  can  not  be  built  up  in  a day.  The  advantages 
with  which  we  begin  our  labors  are  many  and  great.  Our  fine 
farm ; our  noble  building  with  all  its  conveniences  and  comforts ; 
our  ample  fund  and  efficient  corps  of  instructors,  are  full  of  prom- 
ise ; but  these  alone  will  not  achieve  success.  The  confidence  of 
the  public,  earnest  and  protracted  study,  the  patient  toil  of  years, 
and  the  careful  and  watchful  management  of  every  department, 
are  needful  to  the  complete  establishment  of  every  great  institu- 
tion of  learning. 

May  the  Giver  of  all  Good  grant  us  wisdom  to  so  guide  the 
affairs  of  this  grand  undertaking,  as  to  secure  for  it,  with  His 
blessing,  a complete  and  permanent  prosperity. 

A.  S.  WELCH,  President  Elect . 


